New year, same goal.
I've seen invitations, calling devs to contribute to the Bitcoin open source. But what if you're not a dev, and you still want to contribute. Not everyone needs to be a dev, I personally think it's about anyone willing to. Correct me if I'm wrong.
How else can a person contribute to the Bitcoin open source, besides being a devs?
YO!!! I actually wrote out a whole panel about this EXACT TOPIC! You can and should contribute to bitcoin as a non dev or finance bro!
You don’t have to write the most amazing BIP or post a substack predicting the exact price with a bunch of charts, whatever you are doing… Just put bitcoin on top of it. The rest snowballs from there.
Take Ben Justman. He has a vineyard and incorporates bitcoin into some of his label designs, he accepts it, advertises it, etc.
Ainsley Costello (one of many in this category) is trying to revolutionize how the music industry works by taking the middle man from between audiences and creators.
I personally made a comedy show that had bitcoiner guests on it because tensions were high and we all needed a laugh.
There are endless possibilities to contribute to bitcoin if you want! And the best part is, there are no rules!
I love that you asked this and now I can show Bitcoin Magazine that my panel idea wasn’t stupid 😂
Wow Tatum is on SN now! Legend 💫 love your podcasts!
Translations, documentation and guides, also: file issues if you run into something, so that developers know what's up.
very much this
and donations, don't forget donations
Power users are great. I was unofficially a Damus test dummy where I would purposefully try to break the app so I could tell the smarter people who work on it exactly what happened.
You never know, you noticing a small bug in one of these niche apps could lead to the next big prod update for reasons you don’t know.
I just did this as an SN user the other day. I'd like to think it helps. Has helped me in other software too.
reach out to your local bitcoin hubs, they could use volunteers, even if it’s just helping with events, in other aspects you’ll find they need help with creative or social media etc…
most hubs that are not backed by VCs or big corporate sponsors don’t have the capital to hire for help
I don't know if this quite answers your question, but my answer is to learn how to run a webstore and start selling something for bitcoin.
Figure out a product, it doesn't have to be revolutionary or best-selling, or anything...maybe you won't sell very much at all, but do your best to expand the boundaries of the bitcoin economy.
That reminds me, I'd still like to purchase files for the following three posters from you for 10,000 sats :
oh crap, I'm sorry I let that slip. (apparently, I'm not very good at running a webstore)
I can send you a direct link to the files if you DM me on nostr or on X. or if that doesn't work, I can provide an email.
Hmm this post motivated me to try and get on Nostr, but I had trouble. The new user experience for Nostr seems pretty bad... even clicking "get started" on Primal doesn't walk me through any steps it just assumes I already have a key pair set up from somewhere else.
Anyway, I'll figure it out later. Will try DMing you on X. What is your X handle?
BitcoinScoresby
DM'd you
also tried on Nostr, finally got things set up (hopefully correctly)
Another thing you can do.. Just help people. One of the hardest things for me when I was getting into Bitcoin was the toxicity. Which… I understand it now, but to a new comer who doesn’t know what’s going on, that sucks!
Browse forums, Twitter, Nostr, and answer questions if you’re good in that area. If you want, try to make tutorials. That could also help you find where you fit.
I started by writing a blog called “Explain Bitcoin Like I’m Five” and I only published one or two before I realized, I’m not a long form writer. Then I wanted to make hardware wallet tutorials, but figured out that they’re much harder to teach someone else than to learn. But BTC Sessions has that gift. Then I tried to make a podcast (surprise) that never even recorded. All that funneled me into comedy content and also Bitcoin mining. I just kept failing forward.
Translation work expands the reach of tools and documentation, making them accessible to new communities and languages. Creating clear guides and tutorials helps lower the barrier to entry for newcomers and empowers them to become active participants. Even something as simple as testing applications, reporting bugs and documenting steps to reproduce issues can save developers a massive amount of time and energy.
The open source ecosystem thrives when people take ownership beyond their skillsets. If you can help explain complex topics in simple language connect communities or identify pain points for users you are already making a meaningful contribution. In open source initiative matters as much as expertise.